Geography.
The very first mention of anything related to geography in the Bible involved water. In Genesis 2 we read:
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Joshua 1 tells us God said:
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide:
2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.
3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea
[a] on the west.
When the land was divided among the tribes, bodies of water served as boundaries for those territories as well.
Even today we use water to mark boundaries. The Ohio River is the southern border of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the northern border of Kentucky, and western border of the West Virginia panhandle. The Mississippi River serves as boundary to more states than I care to type. The United States is bounded, in part, by the Rio Grande, the Great Lakes, and two oceans.
Water also marks the most important boundary of our existence. At the moment of baptism (in water) we step out of the earthly life and into the kingdom of God. We still live here, but our focus is beyond this life.
The change in perspective is incredibly liberating.
When you look at Niagara Falls from the American side and the Canadian side, there's not much difference (in the falls themselves - the cities surrounding the falls are a different matter). But when you look at life before baptism and after baptism the difference is astounding.
Moral and ethical decisions are no longer issues: you've already made the decisions. How you treat people requires no thought: you treat them like beloved brothers and sisters. What you do with your time is a given: you will work for the Lord and serve others.
I always enjoy crossing the Mississippi River from Tennessee to Arkansas, but it doesn't compare with crossing from a life lived for self and a life lived for God.
Labels: Lessons from the Hot Tub
